Gudrun: Series 5-7

Series 5-7 of the Viking epic of love, revenge and faith set in 11th-century Iceland

Born into a world of otherworldly beauty yet unforgiving harshness, Icelandic heroine Gudrun must fight to forge an independent path and live according to her own rules. A tenacious survivor, she has endured much pain in her young life, from widowhood to the death of her lover, the burning of her family home, separation from her beloved daughter, Sigrid, and being cut adrift from her homeland.

Now, after many years away, Gudrun sails once more into Icelandic waters, with a plan to rescue her daughter who is being brought up in the new Christian faith. But her return to the Sacred Land is not the homecoming she had hoped for, and she soon finds herself exiled again and heading for the New World, with all its new possibilities and new dangers.

Meanwhile, Sigrid arrives in England to marry a man she has never met. Struggling to understand this strange new land of Saxons and Danes, she must keep her darkest secret well-hidden if she is to survive...

Written by Lucy Catherine and inspired by the famous Icelandic Laxdæla saga, this epic tale of love, revenge and faith stars Kate Phillips (Peaky Blinders, War and Peace) as Gudrun, with Rosie Boore and Hollie Burgess as Sigrid.

Written by Lucy Catherine
Directed by Sasha Yevtushenko and Jessica Dromgoole

Cast
Gudrun - Kate Phillips
Freija - Samantha Dakin
Dag - Cameron Percival/Joseph Ayres
Sylvia - Carolyn Pickles/Susan Jameson
Volva - Carolyn Pickles
Aoife - Lucy Doyle
Hakon/Guard 2/Priest/King Sweyn - Michael Bertenshaw
Bolli/Guard 1 - Lewis Bray
Aslak - Tony Turner
Sigrid - Rosie Boore/Hollie Burgess
Leif - Don Gilet/Chris Pavlo
Warrior - Don Gilet
Frederick - Simon Scardifield
Heidr - Jeannette Percival/Helen Clapp
Kjartan - Luke MacGregor/Ian Dunnett Jnr
The Virgin - Marilyn Nnadebe
Sailors - Chris Harper and Joseph Ayre
Gorm - David Hounslow
Canute - Aaron Gelkoff
Gunnar - Chris Pavlo
Panuk - Kenny Blyth
Saxon - Joseph Ayre
Vali/Dane - Chris Harper
Tofa - Debbie Korley
Jesus - Paul Hilton
Truda - Charlotte East
Monk/Servant - Ian Dunnett Jnr
Tobias - Hasan Dixon
Abbot Bettega/John Crescentius/Pope - Roger Ringrose
Nun - Emma Handy
Woman/Garvinicus - Jane Whittenshaw
Soldiers - Ian Dunnett Jnr and Hasan Dixon
Jesson at 7 - Harry Clarke

First broadcast BBC Radio 4: 3-14 December 2018 (Series 5), 20-31 May 2019 (Series 6), 1-12 March 2021 (Series 7)